Recent Winner Dante Nonantais Headlines Arqana February Sale To OTI Racing At 180k

[Wandering Eyes]

Recent winner Dante Nonantais will continue his career Down Under after the leading Australian ownership group OTI Racing went to €180,000 to secure the Florian Bellemere-trained son of Hunter's Light on the second and final day of the Arqana Mixed February Sale on Wednesday. 

The three-year-old gelding was the most expensive of the 170 horses sold at a clearance rate of 78% on the day. Meanwhile, the clearance rate for the entire sale stood at 70%, for an average price of €13,709 and total turnover of €3,299,750. A wide diversity of buyers attended, coming from Germany, Australia, Belgium, Spain, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Tunisia and Turkey. 

Dante Nonantais, the overall sale-topper, was added to the sale as a wildcard following his debut victory on the all-weather at Deauville. He will now head to the yard of Tony McEvoy, winner of the 2025 Melbourne Cup. 

“I've bought him for OTI and he will head to Australia,” said the winning bidder Thibault de Seyssel. “He is a superb horse that made a very promising debut and has real potential. His profile should suit Australian racing perfectly.”

Just minutes later, the hammer fell at €120,000 in favour of Amy Murphy for Recollect, from the stable of Gavin Hernon. The three-year-old son of Recoletos won on his second start at Chantilly. 

“I've bought him for Henry Dwyer, with whom we have worked for a long time,” Murphy said. “He caught his attention and was strongly recommended by his trainer, Gavin Hernon. We are confident he has the potential to succeed in Australia and we look forward to following his progress.”

Another wildcard, the Louisa Carberry-trained Highbourne Karisma, sold for €120,000 to JH Bloodstock on behalf of National Hunt trainer Tom Symonds.

In the breeding section, a yearling filly by Earthlight (Lot 239), presented by Haras des Capucines, generated strong interest around the ring before being knocked down at €125,000 to Nicolas de Watrigant of Mandore International Agency. The filly is a half-sister to the top-class Sajir, winner of the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest last season.

“She is a filly who attracted interest from many buyers,” said Nicolas de Watrigant. “She is well put together physically and comes from a very strong family.”

The post Recent Winner Dante Nonantais Headlines Arqana February Sale To OTI Racing At 180k appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article